Disc roller mechanism for forming helical shapes

Abstract

A disc roller mechanism and method for forming helical-shaped structures from a feed wire or rod, wherein the feed wire is drawn through a plurality of staggered disc-shaped forming rollers by rotation of the rollers, while the wire is also being rotated about its own axis so as to form the desired helical-shaped product. The roller mechanism includes a support frame and a first set of at least two fixed position driven disc-shaped rollers and a second set of at least one idler disc-shaped rollers, said idler rollers being transversely adjustable positions relative to the first driven roller set rotatably mounted in the frame. The driven roller set usually has a roughened outer perimeter surface to facilitate drawing the feed wire through the intersecting forming rollers. If desired, the feed wire can be pulled off a rotatable supply spool such as by a pair of guiding rollers and then passed through the staggered disc-shaped forming rollers to provide the desired helical-shaped product.

I claim: 
     
       1. A disc roller mechanism for forming elongated helical-shaped structures using multiple disc-shaped forming rollers, comprising: (a) a support frame having a fixed member and an adjustable member, each said member being adapted for rotatably supporting a shaft each carrying multiple parallel disc-shaped rollers;   (b) a first set of disc-shaped forming rollers including at least two disc-shaped rollers spaced apart from each other and rotatably mounted in said support frame fixed member, said first set of rollers being rotatably driven;   (c) a second set of disc-shaped forming rollers including at least one disc-shaped roller rotatably mounted in said support frame adjustable member, and arranged in a staggered pattern relative to the rollers of said first set of rollers, said second disc-shaped roller set being substantially parallel with and transversely adjustable relative to the first set, the axes of said forming rollers in said first and second sets being oriented parallel to the centerline of a feed wire for drawing said wire through said first and second sets of disc-shaped forming rollers solely by a frictional drawing force exerted on the wire by said sets of forming rollers, and thereby form the wire passing through the rollers into a sinusoidal pattern;   (d) drive means coupling together all said driven rollers of said first set so as to rotate said driven rollers at a common surface speed; and   (e) means for rotating said feed wire about its own axis while said feed wire is being drawn through said first and second disc-shaped forming roller sets, so as to bend the wire and thereby form it into a helical-shaped structural product.   
     
     
       2. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 1, wherein said first disc roller set contains at least three fixed position rotatably driven rollers and said second disc roller set contains at least two idler rollers located above the fixed position rollers, the position of the second idler roller set being transversely adjustable relative to the fixed position first roller set in said frame, so as to control the spacing between the two roller sets and thereby control the diameter of the formed helical-shaped product. 
     
     
       3. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 1, wherein the second roller set of adjustable idler rollers is located substantially horizontally adjacent to the first set of fixed position driven rollers, said idler roller set being transversely adjustable relative to the first set of driven rollers. 
     
     
       4. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 1, wherein said second roller set is rotatably driven from the rotatable shaft of said first roller set. 
     
     
       5. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 1, wherein said first driven roller set and said second idler roller set each have substantially equal outside diameters. 
     
     
       6. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 1, wherein a guide means is provided attached to said frame for guiding the feed wire to the first forming roller set. 
     
     
       7. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 2, wherein the driven first set of rollers have roughened outer surfaces to provide increased friction between the rollers and the feed wire for drawing the feed wire through the sets of rollers. 
     
     
       8. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 2, wherein the transverse spacing between said first and second roller sets is progressively decreased for the subsequent disc rollers. 
     
     
       9. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 1, wherein for a straight feed wire said means for rotation of the wire is a helical-shaped die rigidly attached to the wire being formed, which die initially pulls the wire through the sets of fixed position driven rollers and adjustable idler rollers. 
     
     
       10. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 1, including a supply spool unit for the feed wire, wherein the feed wire is unrolled from the supply spool rotatable about the axis of the spool, the supply spool unit being simultaneously rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the feed wire. 
     
     
       11. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 10, wherein the feed wire is pulled off the rotatable supply spool by a pair of driven gripping rollers located between the supply spool and the forming rollers. 
     
     
       12. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 1, wherein said drive means comprises means for driving both said first and second sets of disc-shaped forming rollers. 
     
     
       13. A disc roller mechanism for forming elongated helical-shaped structures using multiple disc-shaped forming rollers, comprising: (a) a support frame having a fixed lower member and an adjustable upper member, each said member being adapted for rotatably supporting a shaft, each shaft carrying multiple disc-shaped forming rollers;   (b) a first set of disc-shaped forming rollers including at least three disc-shaped rollers spaced apart from each other and rotatably mounted in said support frame fixed member; said first set of rollers being rotatably driven;   (c) a second set of disc-shaped forming rollers rotatably mounted in said support frame adjustable member, and arranged in a staggered pattern relative to the rollers of said first set, and comprising at least two idler disc-shaped rollers spaced apart from each other and mounted in said adjustable upper frame member, said second disc roller set being substantially parallel with and transversely adjustable relative to the first set, the axes of said forming rollers in said first and second sets being oriented parallel to the centerline of a feed wire for drawing said wire through said first and second sets of disc-shaped forming rollers solely by a frictional drawing force exerted on the wire by said sets of forming rollers, and thereby form the wire passing through the rollers into a sinusoidal pattern;   (d) drive means coupling together all said driven rollers of said first set so as to rotate said driven rollers at a common surface speed; and   (e) means for rotating the feed wire about its own axis while the lead wire is being drawn through said first and second disc-shaped forming rollers, so as to bend the wire and thereby form a helical-shaped structural product.   
     
     
       14. The disc roller forming mechanism of claim 13, wherein said drive means comprises means for driving both said first and second sets of disc-shaped forming rollers.